1. Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019
Gesa Böckermann
Gender Equality Unit, DG Justice and Consumers
29 April 2016, Brussels

2. Preparations: consultation and evaluation

3. Priority areas for action 2016-2019
1st: Increasing female labour-market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men;
2nd: Reducing the gender pay, earnings and pension gaps and thus fighting poverty among women;
3rd: Promoting equality between women and men in decision-making;
4th: Combating gender-based violence and protecting and supporting victims; and
5th: Promoting gender equality and women’s rights across the world.

4. The Strategic engagement sets out:
33 key actions
Objectives to be achieved;
Timelines and responsibilities within the Commission (Annex 1);
Indicators for all priority areas and baseline against which progress will be monitored (Annex 1);
That gender mainstreaming remains a key tool for the promotion of gender equality (dual approach);
How EU funding programmes contribute to the promotion of gender equality;

5. 1st priority area: Increasing female labour market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men
Why do we need to act?

6. Gaps between male and female full-time equivalent employment rates (FTER) and employment rates (ER) in 2014

7. Even though men devote more time to paid work, women work in total 54 hours a week, 5 hours more than men, spending on average 21 hours on caring and household activities, compared with 9 hours spent by men.
Average time spent by workers on paid and unpaid work per week
Source: Eurofound (2015)

8. Increasing female labour market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men
Objectives:
Reach the EU target of 75 % of men and women in employment in 2020;
More equal sharing between women and men of time spent on care and household responsibilities and improved possibilities for balancing caring and professional responsibilities;
Member States to attain the Barcelona targets on childcare; consider reflecting with Member States on possible ways of making Barcelona targets more ambitious and extending them to cover care for other dependants;
Promotion of female entrepreneurship and gender equality in research; better labour-market integration of migrant women.

9. Increasing female labour market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men
Key actions include in particular: A new and comprehensive initative to address the work-life balance challenges faced by working parents and carers
Work-life balance
Childcare services, out-of-school care and care for dependants
Tax-benefit system
Work arrangements
Parental leaves and other family leaves

10. 2nd priority area: Reducing gender pay, earnings and pension gaps and thus fighting poverty among women
Why do we need to act?

11. Reducing gender pay, earnings and pension gaps and thus fighting poverty among women
Persisting gender gaps in the EU:
the total earnings gap is 41%...
the gender pension gap is 40%...
and 15.6% of women + 65 are at risk of poverty (11.4% of men)

12. Reducing gender pay, earnings and pension gaps and thus fighting poverty among women
Strategic engagement underlines that what is needed is to:
Substantially reduce gender inequality in economic sectors and occupations;
Increase the overall paid working hours of women; ensure effective implementation of equal pay legislation;
Eliminate barriers to accessing the labour market of vulnerable groups, such as migrant women and single parents;
Address the causes and consequences of the gender pension gap, an obstacle to the economic independence of women in old age, when they face a higher risk of poverty than men;

13. Reducing gender pay, earnings and pension gaps and thus fighting poverty among women
7 key actions, for example:
Further improving the implementation and enforcement of the equal pay principle by carrying out an assessment of Directive 2006/54/EC and considering inter alia strengthening pay transparency on the basis of the report to be drawn up on Member States’ measures to implement the Commission Recommendation C(2014) 105;
Continuing to mark European Equal Pay Day with Europe-wide information activities to reach out to Member States; raising awareness of the link between pay, earnings and pension entitlements in old age;
Support measures enhancing digital skills among women and girls and promoting female employment in the ICT sector;

14. 3rd priority area: Promoting equality between women and men in decision-making
Why do we need to act?

15. Representation of women and men on the boards of large listed companies in the EU, October 2015

16. New data shows again that the most significant improvements have occurred in countries that have taken legislative action and/or had an intensive public debate on the issue.

17. Gender balance in political decision making: senior ministers, May 2015

18. Promoting equality between women and men in decision-making – key actions include for example:
Continue to support adoption of the 2012 proposal for a Directive on improving the gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges by 2016, closely monitor transposition and implementation once adopted;
Continue to collect and disseminate further data on the representation of women and men in high decision-making positions, in close cooperation with EIGE;
Consider measures to improve the gender balance in political decision-making;
Reach the target of 40 % women in senior and middle
management positions in the Commission by the end of 2019;

19. 4th priority area: Combating gender-based violence and protecting and supporting victims
Why do we need to act?

20. Findings from the survey by the Fundamental Rights Agency (March 2014)
Physical and sexual violence
Sexual harassment and stalking
Cyberviolence
Intimate partner violence
33% of women experienced sexual and/or physical violence since the age of 15 and in the 12 months before the interview
55% of women experienced sexual harassment

21. Combating gender-based violence and protecting and supporting victims
7 key actions, including for example:
EU accession to the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) to the extent of EU competences;
Further improvement of the availability, quality and reliability of data on gender-based violence;
Continue to promote attitudinal and behavioural change through awareness-raising activities (International Days)
Implementation and follow up to the Communication 'Towards the elimination of female genital mutiliation';

22. 5th priority area: Promoting gender equality and women's rights across the world
Why do we need to act?

23. Worldwide, despite significant progress, girls and women continue to be systematically left behind
Discriminatory laws, practices or norms often limit girls’ and women’s social, economic and political participation (access to education, work, social protection, inheritance, economic assets, productive resources such as land, participation in decision-making etc.);
About 140 million girls and women are currently living with the consequences of female genital mutilation

24. Promoting gender equality and women's rights across the world
In cooperation with the EEAS and Member States, the Commission will implement the action plan set out in the joint staff working document on "Gender equality and women’s empowerment: transforming the lives of girls and women through EU external relations ( )".
This new framework is divided into four pillars, which include concrete indicators and targets in the following areas:
- Fighting violence of any kind against women and girls;
- Economic and social empowerment;
- Strengthening voice and participation;
- Shifting institutional culture.

25. Promoting gender equality and women's rights across the world
Fully implement obligations and commitments to women’s rights in all international fora, in particular the UN Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development;
Ensure that women’s and girls’ rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are an essential element of financial and non-financial means of implementing, and of the review, monitoring and accountability mechanisms of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

26. Promoting gender equality and women's rights across the world
Other key actions for the protection and promotion of women's and girls' rights worldwide include:
Continue to fund and monitor action promoting gender equality in development and neighbourhood cooperation and humanitarian aid, including through the systematic use of the OECD gender markers in development cooperation and the gender-age marker in all EU-funded humanitarian action;
Continue to closely monitor and support candidate and potential candidate countries’ compliance with the Copenhagen criteria for membership of the EU; continue efforts to integrate a gender mainstreaming perspective into all relevant programmes funded by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI)

27. Gender mainstreaming
Strategic engagement sets out that the dual approach of key actions and incorporation of a gender equality perspective in all policies will be continued (chapter 4)

28. EU funding in support of gender equality (chapter 5)
EU-level funding: The European Structural and Investment Funds are key financial levers for the promotion of gender equality; it is estimated that EUR 5.85 billion will be spent on measures promoting gender equality in the period The gender-equality perspective will be taken into account in preparing the post-2020 generation of EU funding programmes.

29. Last but not least: cooperation and monitoring
Continue to issue an annual report on progress in gender equality in the EU and use the indicators and baseline set out in the Strategic engagement
Continue to facilitate exchanges of good practice among Member States through the mutual learning programme
Organise regular meetings of the High-Level Group on gender mainstreaming and the Advisory Committee on equal opportunities for women and men
A top-level dialogue could take place in 2018 involving the EP, the Council presidencies and key stakeholders to take stock of the Strategic engagement mid-term, identify challenges and discuss ways forward

30. Thank you for your cooperation!